Smartphones vs. Handheld Consoles, what's your opinion on the portable war? Options

[phxDansuke]

With smartphones getting more and more accesible, and handheld consoles suffering from below-standard sales, what do you think about it? Is it Google Play or iOS the way of the future? Are handhelds getting in the past? Is it worth it to have both devices to be used together? Which is better? What's your opinion on this?

I have both a PSP and LG Optimus One, and after playing a little bit with my smartphone, I realized I started to play less and less with my PSP and only having it with me during long trips, basically because of my phone's battery: If I keep playing too much on my cellphone, I won't have enough battery to listen to music, browse the web or call/text someone without draining all of my battery by the end of the day.

That's also one of the reasons I'm not into Sony Ericsson's Xperia Play, having a high-end smartphone with a promise of being a cellphone-console hybrid, probably won't have my battery lasting that much long. Another aspect is that touchscreen controls are way to uncomfortable on games made for controllers. I love classic games, and having emulators, from NES to GBA on my cellphone was just amazing, but it's impossible to play Metroid Fusion without the shoulder buttons, or Mega Man without the precise physical feedback that are the A&B buttons. And I'm not into Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, unless I have like 2-3 minutes of free time.

But yet again, I'm not actually someone that likes to have his pockets full of expensive gadgets, so I normally bring my smartphone and leave my PSP at home. And that's actually a fair question I make when I'm thinking about buying a 3DS for Christmas. Is it worth it? Will I actually buy that expensive (for me) gadget only to play with that instead of my smartphone? Is that the reason why both the 3DS and Vita are having problems selling their hardware? That's what makes (in my opinion) this war a tie.... of course until there is a smartphone with actual gamepad and an insanely effective battery.

What are your opinions about smartphones vs. handhelds?

This post has been edited by phxDansuke: Nov 3 2012, 04:42 PM